MOLD IN COLOR PIANNO BLACK PC MATERIAL FOR AUTOMOTIVE EXTERIOR APPLICATION

Aesthetics contribute significantly to the customer buying decision of an automobile. This is traditionally achieved through painting. Sustainability and cost challenges have led automakers to look at substituting painting through molded-in color polymers in decorative bezels like pillar appliques. These appliques and bezels have a unique mix of material requirements that include color tone, gloss, stiffness, scratch resistance and weathering. Polycarbonates are an interesting class of polymers that has potential to meet these challenging requirements. This paper reports the work done in evaluating a polycarbonate compound in piano black shade to meet the functional and aesthetic requirements. The results prove that the material can substitute painting thereby resulting in significant cost savings.